Surface-dependent biological potential of spherical silver nanoparticles

The growing interest in silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) is largely driven by their significant antimicrobial potential. As carriers of reactive silver ions on a nanoscale, AgNPs are considered excellent candidates for specific antibacterial strategies. Numerous scientific studies have highlighted that AgNPs are broad-spectrum antimicrobials, with their surface properties playing a crucial role in their biological effectiveness. However, most research to date has focused on a limited range of AgNP colloids and bacterial strains. Our hypothesis posited that the interaction between bacterial cells and nanoparticles begins at the cell surface, and thus, the surface characteristics of both influence the antibacterial efficacy of AgNPs. To test this, we evaluated various physicochemical and biological properties of well-characterized AgNP colloids and their antibacterial effectiveness against six species of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria.
The dataset contains results for the following analyses:

nanoparticle concentration (ICP-OES), shape (TEM), size distribution (DLS), zeta potential (Zetasizer), absorption spectra and susceptibility to ion dissolution (spectrophotometry);
antimicrobial potential of nanoparticles;
silver absorption to bacterial cells (ICP-OES) and bacterial envelope disruption (spectrophotometry);
nanoparticle attachment to bacterial cells (TEM, SEM);
cytotoxic and haemolytic potential (spectrophotometry).